Ze’evi knew when to use force, Netanyahu tells memorial

Rehavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi was assassinated in 2001 by PFLP gunmen; Late tourism minister founded Moledet party, advocated transferring Palestinians out of Israel.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
netanyahu at remembrance day ceremony_311 (photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
netanyahu at remembrance day ceremony_311
(photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
At a Mount Herzl ceremony on Thursday marking 10 years since the assassination of then-tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Ze’evi “understood that in circumstances that threaten our nation's existence, we have no choice but to wield a sword.”
“He understood that nobody will protect the Jews if they won’t protect themselves. He was right on the need to wield a sword in the face of enemies,” the prime minister continued.
Ze’evi, a Palmah fighter, IDF major-general, politician and historian who founded the Moledet party, was known for his advocacy of “transferring” Palestinians out of Israel.
Ze'evi earned the nickname "Gandhi" as a young man, when his shaved head, thin physique and a towel around his waist drew comparisons to Mohandas Gandhi.
He was shot in 2001 in the Jerusalem Hyatt hotel on Mount Scopus by four gunmen from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and soon died in hospital.